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The world could use a Lamborghini lab hauler

April 22, 2012

The Lamborghini Urus SUV was revealed at the Beijing motor show. Photo by Lamborghini

It really doesn't sound natural—a Lamborghini SUV. But it's not a new idea for sports-car makers, or even for Lamborghini. And after getting an up-close look at the Urus ute concept, the opinion here is that the company should build it.

Blasphemy! That's surely the cry of Lamborghini purists. But if Porsche can do an SUV and make it a success (and conceive plans for another, smaller one called the Macan), then Lambo's image can survive with a ute. After all, Bentley has a production version of the EXP 9 F on the way, and Maserati is hard at work developing the final model of a ute presaged by the Kubang concept.

Obviously it's ridiculous to simply follow the crowd when making any decision, but the Urus really would enhance Lamborghini, perhaps even more than a sedan.

Lamborghini chief executive Stephan Winkelmann estimated that the company could sell 3,000 copies of an SUV per year, a dramatic increase from the 1,602 cars the firm sold in 2011, which was, in fact, a 23 percent increase.

That volume alone would make Lamborghini more viable, more stable and increase revenue. Those are not small factors to consider in 2012, when economics are anything but a certainty. Winkelmann also argued that most of his customers own an SUV in addition to their supercar—why not make that second vehicle also a Lambo?

Remember, he's talking about 3,000 units--not 30,000 or even 15,000. Your chances of seeing a Urus or any Lambo on the road would still be slightly better than ghost watching. That's hardly enough to dent the vaunted image of a brand built on raw performance. It would also help Lamborghini make gains in crucial markets such as the SUV-loving American and Chinese regions, plus potentially add volume in the Middle East, Russia and Europe.

Facts and figures aside, the Urus is a hell of sharp-looking vehicle, in this viewpoint. As someone who's seen, smelled and touched this thing, it's unmistakably a Lamborghini. The edges are so pointed that you could shave off the panels. Almost everything on this ute is severe and angry—there's palpable tension.

It's less nervier and a touch curvier in rear but still dramatic. The headlights appear to squint at you. Inside is a four-seat configuration and, naturally, carbon fiber.

“It has to be recognizable immediately, even if it's in a different segment,” Winkelmann said.

The name is interesting though it draws on Lambo's lineage of fighting bulls. The uus is an ancestor of today's cattle, the company says, and the Spanish bull of today still looks like those predecessors. From a marketing standpoint, something different might work better, in this view.

The Urus is a concept, and Lamborghini is weighing whether and when to build it. This car in Beijing is a running prototype with one of the company's current though unspecified engines. The final production version would pump out 600 hp.

So, yes, it's different. But there's a lot that is familiar, and plenty of it is attractive. Frankly none of this is new, even for Lamborghini. The LM002 was a red-blooded SUV in the mid-1980s and early '90s, and the company has a long history of 2+2 models (albeit as sports cars).

The big question is, is the Urus right for right now? Lamborghini design director Felippo Perini closed his preview presentation several weeks ago with, “It's all. I hope, it's enough.”